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The end of the 2018 MLS season is rapidly approaching and with it comes fans eyes not just being focused on their team, but also scoreboard watching as teams jockey for playoff position. As I’ve done over the past few years, here’s your look at today’s MLS matches and what Sporting Kansas City fans want to happen in those games.
There’s not a lot going on this week with there being only two games other than Sporting’s game tonight against Orlando City, so here is what KC wants to happen in those two games.
DC United at New York City FC
What we want to happen: DC win
A DC win combined with a KC win against Orlando would see Sporting climb level with NYCFC on points in the Supporters’ Shield standings and pull ahead of them on the goal difference tiebreaker. Come a potential MLS Cup matchup, that would mean KC would host the game instead of NYCFC if the two met up there.
While that would also allow a DC United team that seems to be rounding into form a chance to get closer to KC, they’d still be 12 points behind KC if Sporting lose to Orlando and 15 if Sporting put away the Lions. While their run in to the end of the season is very home heavy, they have still played just one fewer game than Sporting has.
Colorado Rapids at Portland Timbers
What we want to happen: Colorado win
The Colorado Rapids maximum points this season is now 48 points, just three more than Kansas City currently has, so a win tonight by Sporting and the Rapids would have to win their final eight games while Sporting loses all of their remaining seven for the Rapids to catch them. Meanwhile, the Portland Timbers currently occupy the sixth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference, a position KC would really like to avoid this year. The Timbers sit on 41 points right now, just four points behind third place KC as well, meaning a Timbers win combined with a Sporting loss would see the Timbers close the gap to just a single point and all of a sudden the nightmares of 2014-2017 begin to sneak into fans’ thoughts. So the easiest way to avoid that would be for the Rapids to pull the upset on the road. Combine that with a KC win and the lead over the Timbers climbs to seven points.